Lancing College go scuba diving in Croatia

Posted November 21, 2016

As part of the first scuba diving trip, 24 of us and 4 members of staff went to Pula, Croatia. After a very early start, 4 am, we embarked on our long journey of 2 coaches and a plane ride. Everyone was doing different qualifications so our days were often very different but jam packed with learning and diving. We hit lucky with the weather as it was mostly sunny, however a lot of people found the water was FREEZING!! But that did not stop us from getting stuck into the courses.

The ‘Open Water’ divers spent the first few mornings doing theory and learning the basics of diving. In the Afternoons we had our confined water dives in the hotel pool. This was a new experience for us. On the last few days we went into the sea to finish our skills and qualify for our ‘Open Water’ dive certificate.

For those doing there ‘Advanced’, ‘Rescue’, and ‘Master Scuba Diver’ courses the days were a little different as all the skills were carried out in the sea. We went on a range of different adventure dives including a night dive in the pitch black and a deep dive at one of Pula’s best reefs. The Rescue divers had even more to do with a lot of theory to cover in a short time. One of the most interesting experiences of the trip was when we had a visit from a rather eccentric member of Pula’s A&E department to teach us about basic CPR. Needless to say, it was very different from what we would be taught in England and made for an interesting cultural experience.

On Wednesday everyone had the opportunity to do a final boat dive. This was an exciting new experience for the Open Water divers as they had never been on one before and the dive site was riddled with loads of caves for us to explore.

Last night was awards night: ‘Most Improved Diver’ went to Zachary Allen, Highest theory test score went to Ivan Busha (49/50), ‘Twinkle Toes’ dancing award went to Samantha Worthington and Maddy Padgett, and ‘Most Entertaining Student’ went to Isaac Fairweather.

The hotel we stayed in was amazing (4*), with an extensive buffet every night and live music to dance to. Lots of us learnt a lot in that hotel including the fact that grapes do indeed have seeds in them! In the evenings we all got a chance to socialize and play cards, with the odd game of super competitive backgammon between Max and Ivan (but we also had to squeeze in learning all the theory for our qualifications).

And on the last day we all went into Pula on the bus for a tour of the 1st Century Roman Amphitheater and the town by a lady called Nada who was very, very enthusiastic and got us all to join in and learn a lot about Pula’s extraordinary history. We then had time to discover the town by ourselves before heading back. Croatia was spectacular, and I can’t wait for a chance to go back again! Thanks from us all to Mr Mole, Ms McKane, Mrs Mole and Mr Chandler who enabled the trip to go ahead, and Coco and Hugo for their entertainment!

The countdown for the 2018 Commonwealth Games officially began in March this year when the Queen launched the baton relay at Buckingham Palace and handed the baton to the first carrier; two-time Olymp...

It’s a long way to Australia but with so many beautiful sites to visit and of course, exciting events to watch such as the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the hours spent travelling are well worth...